


By the pier

by junbaitarashian



Series: Everlasting AU [6]
Category: Arashi (Band)
Genre: Angst, Drama, Friendship, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-14
Updated: 2012-08-14
Packaged: 2017-11-12 02:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/485814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junbaitarashian/pseuds/junbaitarashian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where the Ocean calls him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	By the pier

The rain is heavy. Lightning crashes, thunder cracks and rumbles endlessly. The wind blows violently and it makes Nino waver, stumble and struggle to move forward, but he doesn’t stop. He places one foot in front of the other with uncertainty but he keeps moving. He can’t stop though; he needs to reach the pier. The pier calls him, pulls him forward. Unexplained impulse draws him near. There is something important waiting for him there: As to what? Nino doesn’t know. There is only this gut feeling and it leaves an unpleasant after-taste at the back of his throat.

_Must reach the pier. Almost there. The answer is there._

Nino’s breath leaves him in exhausted huffs. He is tiered, his body aches, but he can’t stop his pace. He can’t even remember how long he has been walking – hours, days maybe. He no longer has notion of time: He had given that up a long time ago anyway.  


_Keep walking. Almost there. So close now. The answer. ___

Lightning strikes suddenly, so dangerously close that the impact sends Nino flying. He lays there in the ground, catching his breath for a moment, makes his eyes focus again. He grunts as he shifts to push himself of the ground.

He grunts, but he is not harmed.

He is not.

He can’t.

Nino struggles but finally finds his balance and he is up. His cloak has become too heavy with rain, dirt and grime and discards it – throws it to the side – and the winds drags it a disturbing distance.

_Keep moving. The answer, it’s there. He’s there._

A familiar uneasy feeling crawls at the pit of his heart and it begins to beat a million times faster.

He is there. _Who?_

Nino doesn’t know. Knows he should. Knows he does but at the same time doesn’t…. and maybe he has known for the past one thousand years. If that’s true, then for the past one thousand years- Nino’s thoughts become unsettleling and he forces himself to stop thinking, to just keep walking.

He stops suddenly, as the pier comes into view. The waves rise high and the wind makes them dance from one distance to the other. The lightning and menacing thunders beat into the ocean and give it an eerie glow. It makes Nino hesitate for a second. Nightmares hold him back.

But he must move forward…

Before he knows it, his feet have dragged him to the shore. It calls him, just like all those times for the past one thousand years. It calls him, whispers his name between thunders and howls it with the wind, but always the nightmares stop him from pursuit… But now he is here, in front of the ocean. It trashes violently and shows no sign of ever settleling. Suddenly his nightmares become a reality as he is pulled in by the water and then being dragged, deeper and deeper still.

His chest feels the painful pressure. He feels the rapture in his ears and his limbs go numb in the freezing water that surrounds him. 

He won’t die. 

His hands reach out but the surface is so far away now. He quivers and gives up – he is too tired, knows there is no point in struggleling – and lets himself sink. 

It’s then that Nino sees him, as he sinks. He is coming up toward him, his hands are reaching out. Nino tries to focus his eyes, tries to recognize him but the sting of the water won’t let him.

And then he is being helped up to the surface and carried to the shore.

“Hold on! Don’t die! Don’t you die!” Nino can hear the man yell and feel him pump at his chest.

“I can’t die” Nino wants to say, but his lips won’t move, his eyes won’t open; he reigns no control over his body…

“Please don’t die Kazu,” the man pleads and Nino can’t do anything to show him that he is fine. “Don’t die,” the man repeats, “I won’t let you!”

The man begins to chant, his voice is low and swerves, but Nino is sure he has never heard that language before. He can feel a warm glow from the hand that is being pressed to his chest. It’s soothing, and he can feel himself relaxing. Then he is coughing, choking on the water coming up his throat. His eyes fly open with shock and he finds himself looking up at remorseful eyes. Eyes too familiar.

He knows this man.

It’s the fisher man, the baker, the painter, the performer, the dancer, the singer… He is that man that he bumps to on the street, the one that apologizes first even though it’s not his fault. He is that merchant that never looks him in the eye and says little. He is that man at the café, the one that draws on napkins, that when complimented on his drawings he simply smiles and shies away.

“Please forgive me,” the man suddenly says and smiles sadly, “but I couldn’t let you die.”

And then Nino is standing over his body, looking at himself and the man that is crouched over him on the ground.

“You won’t remember me tomorrow.” The man finally says and Nino watches him cry.

Everything goes very still then, and lightning strikes again – one last time – and everything gets swallowed by the bright light until it all goes white and then fades to black.

Nino is not sure he got his answer.

\--=-

It’s the gentle shake that wakes him up. A soft raspy voice asks if he is ok. Nino is glad to hear this voice. It’s Aiba and he is hovering over the couch, he is looking at him very carefully and knowingly. Nino moans and stirs in the couch.

“You had a bad dream.” Aiba says and it’s less of a question than it is a statement.

“Yes, a nightmare.” Nino says, more to convince himself than to answer.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asks Aiba and he reaches dearly to place pat Nino on the head.

“No.” Nino simply says.

“Ok,” Aiba nods, “I’ll bring you warm milk tea.”

Outside, the rain is heavy, lightning strikes and thunder echoes after it. The wind is howling and it hums close the window… it whispers his name.

Nino can hear the ocean calling.

-=-

A/N: yey Aiba finally makes an appearance :]  



End file.
